Vietnam targets credit rating upgrades in 2030: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc has asked Standard & Poor's Global Ratings (S&P) and Moody's to help Vietnam further improve its credit rating by sharing experiences and relevant advice.

In separate meetings with the two agencies in New York Wednesday (local time), he specified that they could assist Vietnam in developing a stable and healthy corporate bond market, including formulating rules related to credit ratings for bond issuers, collaterals and others.

The meetings took place on the sidelines of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to the U.S. to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly session.

In his meeting with S&P executives, Phoc said Vietnam targeted a “BBB” credit rating in 2030, adding that the ministry will closely cooperate with the agency to meet the goal.

Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, global head of analytics and research sovereign & international public finance ratings (IPF) at S&P, noted some challenges facing Vietnam, especially with recent real estate market developments.

Phoc responded that the government had begun supporting the market by reducing interest rates for house buyers and investors, building more affordable houses for low-income people, and updating pricing rules. Sifon-Arevalo said he appreciated the information and would recalibrate Vietnam’s rating accordingly.

S&P’s most recent credit rating upgrade for Vietnam was in May 2022, from “BB” to “BB+.” The rating agency also affirmed the country’s short-term rating at ‘B’ with stable outlook. The rating upgrade was supported by Vietnam's robust economic prospects and sound external position, S&P clarified. Vietnam continued to attract strong foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, despite pandemic disruptions, it added.

The credit rating of S&P features 20 ranks, from AAA (the highest) to SD/D (the lowest). Moving from BB+ to BBB, or two ranks, will take Vietnam from the lower half to the upper half of the scale.

Working with Moody’s, Phoc said Vietnam’s target was to cut capital costs and reach a Baa3 rating in 2030, thereby improving Vietnam’s international profile, cut capital costs and ease national credit risks.

Moody’s affirmed it would share experiences and documents and send supporting teams to Vietnam to update the legal framework for securities.

Michael Folay, Moody’s vice chairman for Asia-Pacific, thanked the ministry for licensing Vietnam Investors Service And Credit Rating Agency Joint Stock Company (VIS Rating), the Vietnamese credit rating agency under Moody's.

The latest credit rating upgrade for Vietnam by Moody’s, from Ba3 to Ba2, was in September 2022, and the outlook was changed from stable to positive. The upgrade reflected the assessment that Vietnam's economy was growing in strength and displaying greater resilience to external macroeconomic shocks, indicating improved effectiveness of policies, the agency said.

Moody's has 21 ranks going from Aaa (the highest) to C (the lowest). Jumping from Ba2 to Baa3, or two levels, will move Vietnam from the "Speculative grade" group to the "Investment grade" group, or the top half.

Credit rating is an indication of future relative creditworthiness of securities, according to Moody's.